THE CONSTRUCTION IS ON - A boy plays on top of piles of bridge steel materials imported from Japan recently delivered by the contractor, Toyo Construction, along the unfinished Dawel-Pantal-Lucao road near Babaliwan. The delivery signals the start of the construction of the P903 million Pantal bridge. (Punchphoto by Butch Uka).

WELCOMING A NEW LAWYER— Supreme Court Administrator Christopher Lock (left) discusses the chapter’s projects with Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Pangasinan chapter president Joven Maramba and former president Baltazar Servito after he welcomes Atty. Alipio Serafin Fernandez (right) as one of the 32 new members of the IBP in Pangasinan.

ABS-CBN DONATION — Taxpayers in Dagupan City can look forward to being entertained watching ABS-CBN programs while waiting to complete their transactions with in the city’s One-stop Shop Business Center (OSBC). Mayor Benjamin Lim (center) and OSBC officer-in-charge Digna Liwanag (right) receive two brand new television sets from the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation represented by North-Central Luzon area manager Gemma Cacas (2nd from left) and marking officer for Luzon Janice Abrogar (left) for the center’s use.

NEW HOTEL ASSOCIATION—Mayor Benjamin Lim administers the oath of the officers and members of the newly organized Hotel Association of Dagupan led by its president Alfredo Quinto (8th from left) on September 14 held at the city mayor’s conference room. The group pledged to be an active partner of the city governments in conceptualizing and pursuing tourism-related projects and programs.

IWATA CITY VISITORS—The sister city ties between Dagupan City and Iwata, Japan entered in a new phase when Iwata’s Sister Cityhood Commission officials led by Satoshi Yamamoto (2nd from left) visited Mayor Benjamin Lim (left) on September 13 to discuss the possibility of more economic, cultural and educational exchanges.

AFTER TERMINATING 150 EWs

Councilor De Venecia questions mass lay-off

THE worst is yet to come for the cash-strapped Dagupan City government.

As gleaned from the city council’s committee hearing last week initiated by Councilor Alex de Venecia, the city government neither has the money for the additional compensation allowance of its regular employees nor the fund to pay for the services of the number of emergency workers and technical consultants it has decided to maintain.

It appears that despite the termination of 150 of its 285 emergency workers as of August 31this year enabling the city to save at least P1 million, the effort is not enough to stave off a serious financial crisis in the city.
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SC ADMINISTRATOR ADMITS

THE late Regional Trial Judge Oscar Uson of Branch 52 of Tayug was one of the seven magistrates of the law killed by assassins and whose gruesome murders have yet to be solved by law enforcement agencies.

This was confirmed on Thursday by Supreme Court Administrator Christopher Lock in a talk to newsmen shortly after addressing the launching of a free legal assistance program for detainees in various jails of Pangasinan sponsored by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines chapter.

Lock attributed the failure to the lack of material witnesses to come out in the open and testify obviously for their fear of reprisal from the perpetrators.
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LINGAYEN–The alert level for dengue fever in the province has been raised but health officials are not set to declare an epidemic as yet. 

The move was taken following the marked high incidence of mosquito-borne dengue hemorrhagic fever which has so far afflicted 925 persons resulting in 13 deaths from January to September 11.

Dr. Anna de Guzman, deputy provincial health officer, stressed this as Dr. Racquel Magalong, epidemiologist based at the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Department of Health in La Union, maintained there is no dengue in Pangasinan despite the reported number of cases.
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The release of the P1,000 monthly additional compensation (adcom) for Dagupan City hall employees now delayed for five months will not likely happen any time soon.

City budget officer Ildefonso Calimlim, in a talk before the city council, said this matter is really up to the mayor but he admitted that the city has no fund to pay the “adcom” of employees.

“Awan ti kuwarta”, Calimlim said in jest when pressed by Councilor Alex de Venecia to answer if the city has money to grant the request of the employees. 

Calimlim maintained that the release of “adcom” is dependent on the availability of funds of the city.
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Overcrowding in the eight detention jails in Pangasinan has been largely attributed to a backlog in the resolution and settlement of cases owing to the failure or inability of detainees to get lawyers to defend themselves.

And, a survey conducted by the IBP chapter showed these overcrowded jails which include the Provincial Jail in Lingayen and seven district jails scattered all over the province, are no longer in a position to provide inmates a chance to rehabilitate themselves and lead a normal life.

In a bid to reverse the situation, the local chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines headed by Atty. Joven Maramba has launched a free legal assistance program for poor detainees whose cases are hardly moving in courts.
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